1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to stoppers for bottles, flasks or the like containers having pressurized contents. In particular, it relates to crowned stoppers for champagne bottles which may be secured at the time of bottling without a safety wiring or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The shape and design of wine and champagne bottles are dictated somewhat by tradition and etiquette as well as by considerations in the bottling process. Limitations may therefore be imposed on the type of stopper employed. For example, the twist-on type cap presently in use for bottled beverages in the United States or the wire and porcelain safety-latch type stopper used for bottled beverages in Europe would be unacceptable as aesthetically displeasing at the formal dinner table. Other types of stoppers, for example, stoppers which must be twistably applied, would complicate the bottling process and therefore would increase mass production cost.
A stopper for a champagne bottle should be easily insertable and removable, yet capable of withstanding substantial pressure over long storage periods without deterioration or effect on the contents. It should also be capable of reliably resealing the bottle contents. Mere twist-on, twist-off caps have been found unsuitable for this purpose.
Crowned stoppers are well known closures for bottles containing sparkling beverages such as champagne or like wines. U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,163 issued to Henri Marcel of France is but one example of a crowned stopper. During the bottling process, the traditional crowned stopper is typically driven into, rather than twisted or molded onto, the neck of a filled bottle.
A safety wiring typically binds the stopper to the bottle finish to prevent the accidental ejection of the stopper between the time of bottling and the time of initial opening. A safety wiring, although inconvenient to remove, does assure that the stopper remains in place. Nevertheless, the installation of a safety wiring is a step in the bottling process which is desirable to eliminate.
Efforts have been made to eliminate the need for a safety wiring with a crowned stopper. For example, one approach is a two-piece crowned stopper called TOP, which is manufactured by Pfefferkorn of Germany. The stopper comprises a crown and a separable shank portion. The shank portion has a series of skirts which engage and lock against the outer surface of an unmodified bottle finish only when the crown is pressed down and locked against the latching skirts. The latches are released by twisting and pulling on the crown, which in turn permits the user to withdraw the shank portion from the neck of the bottle. In order to provide this capability, the stopper must be manufactured in two pieces and subsequently assembled.
Alternatively, the compression and thus the security of the inner friction fit of the shank of the traditional crowned stopper may be increased. However, an increase in the compression increases the force required to withdraw the stopper, which is undesirable from the user's viewpoint.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a simple, one-piece crowned stopper suitable for a bottle containing champagne or a like beverage under pressure which may be axially inserted or driven into a bottle neck, which need not be secured by a safety wiring, which may be easily removed by hand.